[English Sermon 영어 설교]
Sunday, June 22, 2025 - Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn
Longing for a Good Church (Ephesians 4:7-16 )
2025. 6. 22. 주일예배 설교- 에베소서 강해 14
본문: 에베소서 4:7-16
제목: 좋은 교회에 대한 열망
설교자: 손진국 목사
We're in the middle of our sermon series on Ephesians, and what did we say the main theme of Ephesians is? It's all about the church.
How about you? Do you have hope for the church? Do you long for a good church? Many Christians today want to attend a good church. So, they go searching for one. Some leave to find a good church, while others come looking for one.
How about you? Do you think you're attending a good church right now? As I prepared this sermon, I found myself asking, "Is our church really a good church?" And also, "Do the people who attend this church really think of Heaven's Hope Church as a good church, or are they just attending because they've simply dipped their toe in?" These were some of the many thoughts I had during this time.
And one desire arose within me: I truly hope that Heaven's Hope Church becomes a truly good church. This church was planted a year and a half ago, and I hope it gets better tomorrow than it is today, and better next year than it is now. And I hope the saints who attend this church feel that they are attending a good church.
However, as I held that desire, I actually felt a bit ashamed. This is because I, as the senior pastor, don't truly believe that Heaven's Hope Church is a truly good church. This is because there's a difference between the good church shown in the Bible and the actual state of our church.
So, I want to share this message today with the hope that all of us will develop a longing for a good church, and that the characteristics of a good church, as described in the Bible, will be evident in our church.
First, what kind of church is a good church? What kind of church do you think is a good church? There are many aspects, but try to think of just one. Try telling the person next to you. Are your answers the same? Some might think a church with good worship is a good church, while others might think a church that does a lot of charity work is a good church. Still others might think a church that focuses a lot on missions or Bible study, or one where people connect well and fellowship is strong, is a good church.
But who established the church? Who is the owner of the church? [Matthew 16:18] And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Jesus says, "My church." Jesus is the owner of the church. Therefore, a good church is not the kind of church we want, but the kind of church that Jesus, the owner of the church, desires to build. I believe that today's passage shows us, to some extent, the kind of good church the Lord desires. As we share this, I hope our longing for a good church will grow even stronger.
1. Grace Was Given to Each Person
[Verse 7] But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. God gives us grace. Grace is given. God sent His only Son, Jesus, for us. And through Jesus Christ, God gave abundant grace. He gave us new life, so we could be saved, and He sent the Holy Spirit to us. He also gave us a heavenly inheritance as our possession, and in the future, He has prepared heaven for us.
What is the gift of Christ mentioned in Ephesians 4:7? The gift of Christ, given to each person by grace, refers to spiritual gifts. When we are saved, God gives each person gifts. When we are born, each person is born with talents. This too is God's grace. Some are excellent in sports, while others have excellence in arts like music or painting. Some have good comprehension skills and excel in their studies. Each person is born with God-given talents. In the same way, when we believe in Jesus and are spiritually born as children of God, He also gives gifts to each person. For what purpose? [1 Corinthians 12:11-12] All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. The Holy Spirit distributes gifts to each person as the Lord wills, and just as one body has many members and each member has its own function, He gives gifts to each person for their respective functions to build up the body of Christ. In other words, He gives grace to each person to build up the church, which is the body of Christ.
To build a good church, we must first believe that God is the one who called and established us as members of the church. And we must know what our role as a member of the church is. To know that, it's necessary to know what gifts the Holy Spirit has distributed to us. Just as our body becomes healthy when each part performs its function well, a church becomes healthy and good when each member performs their function well according to their gifts.
[Application] What are the gifts God has given me? Am I using those gifts to build up the church?
2. Saints are Those Who Build the Church
[Verse 11] So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
Here, it starts with "He." It comes before that. [Verse 10] He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe. This is the one who descended to this earth and then ascended to heaven again. Who is it? It is Jesus Christ, our Lord, who established the church on this earth. Looking at verse 11 again, it shows the people the Lord establishes within the church to build up the body of Christ. Who are the apostles here? They are people who pioneer and establish churches. Prophets are those who receive and convey God's word. Evangelists are those who preach the gospel of the kingdom, through which people receive salvation through Jesus Christ. Pastors and teachers does not mean there is one pastor and a separate teacher. This is because in the original Greek, there is only one article. In English, it's not "a pastor and a teacher," but "a pastor and teacher." That is, it refers to someone who is both a pastor and a teacher. So, it's interpreted as "some as pastors and teachers," not "some as pastors, and some as teachers." This can be seen as meaning that the most basic requirement for a pastor is to be able to carry out the teaching ministry.
However, there is a commonality among the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers mentioned here. What is it? They are all people who handle God's word. Handling does not mean simply reading and being close to the word, but rather conveying the word to others.
Why did He establish people who convey the word? It's in verse 12. [Verse 12] to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up The reason He established people who convey the word is to equip the saints. What does "equip" mean here? [Verse 12 ] to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. To "equip" means to prepare the saints. What we need to remember here is that saints are equipped and prepared through the Word. That's why we are told to learn the Word, meditate on it, apply it, and memorize it. But why are saints equipped? What is the reason for preparing the saints? Preparation for what? If you look at verse 12 again, the reason is clearly stated. [Verse 12 - NIV] to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. It is to enable the saints to perform works of service and build up the church, which is the body of Christ.
Among the things I often hear from saints, there's this: "Pastor, you're building the church, and I'll help you diligently." That heart is truly appreciated. But is the idea that the pastor is the one who builds the church and the saint is merely an assistant a biblically sound thought? Of course, both the pastor and the saints build the church. Their roles are different. Practically speaking, the saints are the ones who build the church, the body of Christ, while the pastor is the one who teaches and prepares the saints with the Word so they can build the church. Who builds the church, and who helps?
Among the things we do on earth, what truly pleases God and brings Him glory? When you study the "Believe, Live, Grow" Bible study, you learn spiritual disciplines to practice after believing in Jesus, and one of them is the discipline of choice. [1 Corinthians 10:31] So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Here, doing things for the glory of God means doing what pleases God. When we do anything, we must make a choice. Is doing this pleasing to God or not? What pleases God? Why did He send His only Son as a human and have Him die on the cross? What was the reason Jesus came to this earth? (1) To save people. Jesus came to this earth to save people. God truly delights in saving people, in saving souls. And Jesus came as the Savior to atone for our sins and to save humanity, but there's also another important reason He came to this earth. It was (2) to build His own body, the church, on this earth. He wants the saints who believe in Jesus and are saved to be connected with each other in Christ. The church is God's kingdom established on earth, the ark of salvation, and the body of Jesus Christ, the only hope for this world.
So, please believe that God is pleased and glorified by those who save souls and build the church.
[Application] Am I someone who builds the church, or someone who helps? What am I doing to build the church?
3. The Church Must Continue to Grow
Saints are trained and prepared through the Word, and they build the church. As they build the church with the ministries entrusted to them by God, what results will be achieved? It's in verse 13. [Verse 13] until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
How does a pastor build the church? The church is built as the pastor teaches, trains, and prepares the saints, and as the saints perform works of service and actually build the church. As the church is built in this way, everyone will become unified in believing and knowing the Son of God and become mature. Ultimately, it says we will attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. What does that mean? It means growing. The church must grow.
[Verse 14] Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. This tells us what happens if the church doesn't grow. It becomes like infants. What is the characteristic of infants? They only think of themselves and don't consider others. When a baby cries, does the mother wait until it's bedtime to cry? Do they wait because it's not mealtime yet? No. People who are like infants, that is, self-centered people, easily fall prey to human deception and cunning temptations. There are people who are easily deceived. Who are they? People who think self-centeredly. They greedily snatch at the bait when told they can make a lot of money this way, driven by their own desires. Con artists exploit the greed and desires of others. If you think objectively, you should consider how absurd it is, and that if you profit from it, someone else will inevitably suffer a loss, but they can't. Then families break apart and friendships are destroyed. The same goes for the church. It becomes difficult if there are too many self-centered people who are strong in their own opinions.
Infants cry and throw tantrums if they don't get what they want. But what happens when they grow up? They start to consider their mother's situation. They start to think about whether they might be causing harm to others. Paul is saying that the church, in the same way, must grow.
How much should it grow? [Verse 15] Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Our goal is to grow until we become like Jesus Christ. Why should we? Because Christ is the head of the church, and the church is His body. What happens if the head is mature but the body doesn't grow to match it? There's actually a condition like that. When the body doesn't grow, making the head disproportionately large and appearing abnormal, it's called dwarfism. I find myself wondering if the church today has dwarfism.
I hope we have this desire: I want the church, the body of Christ, to grow. And I want to grow as a member of the church. To grow to be fitting for Jesus, who is the head. I hope we don't suffer from spiritual dwarfism. How can we grow? We grow when the members are connected to each other. [Verse 16] From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
The important words here are "joined" and "held together." Are you connected to the Lord? Being connected means having a connection. Shall I ask differently? "Are you in sync with the Lord?" Ask the person next to you, "Are you in sync with God?" "Are you connected to the Lord?"
This reminds us of Jesus' parable of the vine and branches in John 15. [John 15:1] I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Here, Jesus says He is the true vine, and God is the gardener. What does God, the gardener, want from Jesus, the true vine, and His body, the church? It's in verse 2. [John 15:2] He cuts off every branch in me that produces no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. Here, the branches represent us, the members of the church, who are attached to the true vine. What God desires is for the saints, the members of the body of Christ, to bear fruit. The church must grow spiritually and mature, and also bear much fruit, bringing forth new life. The church is God's kingdom established on earth. God's kingdom must continue to expand. How? God's kingdom expands when lost souls believe in the name of Jesus, return, and gain life. Soul-saving must happen. Some people might think, "Our relationships are good right now, so I hope no new people come." But that's because they don't understand the Lord's heart. What is the Lord's heart? He wants to save even one more soul. But thinking that it's enough to just have a comfortable faith life is self-centered.
[Verse 16] From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
The church is the body of Christ. The body of Christ must grow. The church must expand. God's kingdom must expand. Remember that this is the Lord's heart and desire for the church.
[Application] Am I growing as a member of the church? What should I strive to do to help our church grow?
The Lord, who is God, came to this earth as a man, died, and rose again to save people, and also to build His own body, the church, on this earth. I hope that you and I, as members of the Lord's body, the church, will embrace this desire of the Lord. I pray in the name of the Lord that Heaven's Hope Church and all its saints will obey the will of the Lord, who is the Head, and that His body will grow, bear much fruit, and be built up in health.
하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.
Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.